


All We Need

by SiciLupin



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Laundromat!AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-02
Updated: 2013-06-01
Packaged: 2017-12-13 17:02:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/826683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiciLupin/pseuds/SiciLupin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The residents of Big Root Apartments have always made Joyce’s Laundromat an interesting place, but everything changes when a young and mysterious new tenant moves in. Enter Jack Frost. Shenanigans ensue.</p><p>Or, that Jackrabbit Laundromat!AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All We Need

               Joyce’s Laundromat sat on a busy, shop lined road in Burgess, Pennsylvania, sharing the ground floor of the building known as Big Root Apartments. It was owned by Manny DiLuna, a mysterious figure of stocky build and pleasant demeanor, who almost never spoke. However, just because he did not speak often did not mean he was a stranger to his regular customers.

               Out of all the patrons who frequented Joyce’s Laundromat there was a small group Manny could recognize. Of that group was a handful that Manny remembered by name, all of whom lived in the apartment building.

                First were the owners of Big Root Apartments, Mr. Ombric and his great niece Katherine. They lived in the apartment behind the laundromat with Mr. Ombric’s small office squashed between the two spaces. Katherine was a sensible girl of 15 (technically an adult, she says) who never was without her sketchbook. Attending a private art school, she was living with her Great Uncle Ombric instead of staying in the dorms; it seemed she was the only frequent patron of the laundromat who possessed normal laundry. Mr. Ombric, with his bushy eyebrows and white beard that was too long, always had his nose buried in tomes written in incomprehensible languages – Manny had found one of these in the laundromat one day,  and could barely identify any letters amongst the scribbles on the pages, let alone read them. Ombric’s laundry was quite vibrantly colored, with strange fabrics that Manny knew should not have been so carelessly thrown together into the washer and dryer. Despite this, the man’s clothing always seemed to magically survive the rinse and dry cycles without damage.

                Next was a very large man named Nicholas St. North. He had moved to Burgess from somewhere in Russia, that much Manny knew for sure. Why Burgess of all places? No one could say. His past was a mystery; Manny knew of rumors of links to mafia or secret intelligence, even the Cossacks perhaps, but no one knew the real story. Nick (he refused to be called Nicholas) owned a popular toy shop named Santoff Claussen located just down the road. Business was booming; the same adjective Manny would use to describe Nick’s insanely loud voice. Each spin in the washing machine for Nick was a swirl of red, and Manny often wondered if the man wore anything else.

                Nick’s volume was something that another tenant, Kozmotis Pitchiner, was _not_ fond of. Kozmotis, a very tall, pale, and slender man, wore tight fitting black shirts with too-low v-cut necklines. He lived with his partner, Sanderson Mansnoozie, a shorter, rounder, bright man who wore too much gold, in the apartment below Nick. Manny often heard about all the times the taller (and more irritable) of the two banged on the floor of Nick’s apartment from below, complaining of noise. Pitch and Sandy, as everyone referred to them, always had strange things in their laundry, often consisting of black and gold glitter and odd shapes – but Manny was not nosey and therefore did not pry.

                (Alright, maybe he was _a bit_ nosey.)

                Toothiana Pfary, on the other hand, was overly fond of Nick. With her rainbow of laundry that could rival Mr. Ombric’s and her perpetually diamond-bright smile, she had caught the interest of quite a few men who frequented the laundromat. Despite this, Manny noticed she only had eyes for the large toy maker. The first time Manny ever met Tooth, as everyone called her, was quite memorable: she did not look him in the eyes. Instead, she focused on his pearly whites, possibly even greeting his teeth as she said hello. To her credit, she was a dentist, and it did not surprise Manny that her first instinct was to look at his teeth.

                Another regular was, at least according to his credit card, E. Aster Bunnymund. Manny never found out what the E stood for; no one else had either, apparently, as everyone seemed to just call him Aster. His laundry consisted of earthy tones mainly composed of grays, tans, and camouflage as well as the occasional paint-splattered white tee-shirt. Aster, a man with an unreasonable fear of dogs, had gone through art school and passed with flying colors, making his way through life by selling his paintings and working part time at a flower shop. Manny learned this the day that Aster came in grumbling about out of season flowers and weddings, with more dirt on his clothing than paint. He always had to clean the machines with an extra helping of elbow grease after Aster used them.

                The newest tenant was a young kid named Jackson Overland Frost, a normal looking teen with brown hair, brown eyes and a job that kept him away from Big Root Apartments quite frequently. There was something special about the boy that drew Manny’s attention to him, puzzling the laundromat owner. After all, there was nothing in particular that stuck out about Jack. In fact, Manny knew next to nothing about him, but he what he _did_ know was that Jack never seemed to take off his ragged blue sweatshirt or his sunglasses. He often wondered if Jack _ever_ washed the sweatshirt, since every time he came into the laundromat he neglected to take it off and add it to the machine.

                Manny assumed he would learn about this new addition to Big Root Apartments in time, as he had learned about the other tenants over the years. As he unlocked the front door at five minutes of eight, he readied himself for another day. He made sure the CCTV was still in place and working (although he rarely found reason to view the footage), checked that none of the machines had spontaneously combusted overnight, and saw to it that the vending machines and coin machine were still working. He changed out the old magazines for the ones bundled up under his arm and made his way to his desk, sitting down and preparing himself for the madness that would no doubt be his day.

                Working under Big Root Apartments, what else could it possibly be?

**Author's Note:**

> My beta's the only reason this is alive. [Kathleen](http://Dinosaur-on-a-spaceship.tumblr.com) you are perf omg. Ilu. <3
> 
> There are characters and references from the book series, but don't worry, you don't need to have read them to understand!


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